Despite his baby-face, Andruw Jones is a savvy veteran. Unfortunately for him, his saviness caught the ire of Texas Rangers catcher Yorvit Torrealba, who accused Jones of stealing signs while on second base during the Yankees 12-4 win on Wednesday night.
According to a report by ESPN's Mike Mazzeo and Richard Durrett, Torrealba began yelling at Jones during the fifth inning of the game because he believed Jones was giving away pitch locations.
Jones did not take Torrealba's accusations lightly.
"When [their pitcher] is leaving pitches over the plate, and they're getting hit, they're just trying to make excuses. Those things happen," Jones said.
This was not the first time Torrealba accused a Yankee of sign stealing either. Yankee first baseman Mark Teixeira said that the Rangers' catcher had also pointed his finger at him two nights earlier.
"He said something to me two nights ago," Teixeira said. "But there's really no reason to get into it because I didn't have anything. Guys get paranoid. I told him I really don't know what you're talking about and that was it."
The players and managers on both squads realize that sign-stealing is an age-old part of the game, but just because it's a part of baseball tradition, that doesn't mean anyone likes getting called out for it.
"I don't care for that," Yankees manager Joe Girardi said. "He's yelling at one of our guys and I don't appreciate that. I've said I'm going to protect my guys."
